


The Grumbler

by shadowmaat



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, M/M, accidental urban legend, kids will be kids, ridiculous fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 09:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowmaat/pseuds/shadowmaat
Summary: Based onthis hilarious comicby aortdn, Chirrut is entertaining kids on the rebel base when Baze shows up and things take a hilarious (to Chirrut) turn.





	The Grumbler

After their narrow (some would say impossible) escape from Scarif it was hard for the Rogue One crew to settle in to a “normal” existence within the Alliance. There were missions, of course, and far too many close calls, but there were also periods of inactivity that each of them handled in a different way.

Chirrut Îmwe found peace by interacting with the younglings on the base. Some were children of the rebels but many more were orphans rescued from their war-torn homeworlds. They were battered in spirit if not always body and Chirrut did his best to bring a little more Light into their lives. He told jokes. He shared stories. Sometimes he even taught them  moves so they could defend themselves, which served several purposes at once. 

Today’s group was small but enthusiastic. He was showing them card tricks that were _far_ more impressive since they were coming from the “blind funny man.” He recognized most of the voices in the group and several of them had seen the tricks before but still hadn’t caught on to how he managed it. He told them that the Force guided him, which was true enough. It guided him to count cards and feel for certain markings. The trick worked well on adults, too, and he’d won quite a number of credits in games. Baze called it cheating, but since _they_ were trying to take advantage of a blind Guardian Chirrut figured it evened out.

Speaking of Baze… he tilted his head, tucking the cards into his robe as he heard the steady heavy tread of his heart’s mate. He also heard a collective intake of breath from the little ones and a whisper of “it’s The Grumbler!”

“Chirrut! There you are! I-”

The younglings screeched in alarm and there was a rapid patter of feet as Chirrut’s audience abandoned him. Most of them, anyway. He heard a soft thud as someone hit the ground in their effort to escape. Baze rushed over to help… her, judging by the tone of the screams as she struggled in his arms.

“Easy, little one,” Baze tried to soothe her. “I’ve got you now.”

Chirrut bit his lip as the girl’s panic increased. He could sense Baze’s confusion; he loved children as much as Chirrut did and just last week had spent an afternoon being mobbed by them. But that group hadn’t heard the story Chirrut had told them about The Grumbler, a terrifying creature who liked to grab children and force them to eat their vegetables.

His shoulders started to shake as the girl, he thought her name was Niri, shoved her tiny fists in Baze’s face and wailed about hating boiled guroot. Baze was trying to assure her that he didn’t care if she hated guroot he just wanted to make sure she was OK.

Unable to contain his mirth any longer Chirrut dropped to his knees and laughed until he cried.

“You find this funny?” Baze thumped his back. It only made Chirrut laugh harder. “What did you say to- OW!”

There was a muffled curse and the sound of a small body hitting the dirt again before scrambling her way to freedom.

“She _bit_ me!” He sounded bewildered and upset, although it wasn’t directed at the girl herself. “What did you tell them, Chirrut!”

“Well!” Chirrut gasped for breath. “She may not like her vegetables but at least she isn’t afraid of a little meat!”

Baze swatted him again, calling him a variety of very bad words in the Temple language. Chirrut knew he’d feel guilty later for accidentally making the kids think his poor sweet garu-bear of a husband was a monster, but for now it was the best laugh he’d had in weeks and he was going to savor it.


End file.
